We had previously noted that the woman of Rev. 12 is the Church (of the
O.T and N.T) ; the dragon is Satan. We saw him there engaged
in a cosmic battle with the archangel Michael , and we saw that he lost that
battle , and Satan thus thrown down from
the heavenly realms. Six times do
we read in 12:7-13 that "Satan was thrown down” with his angels to the earth"[1].
Satan has lost his place
among the ‘sons of God’ (1:6) – a
reference to the angels , and he has now been
limited to the earthly realm,
where he continues to vent his fury
against God and against God’s people –
the church - the metaphorical woman who has by now given birth to the man-child –
Jesus.
In Chapter 13 we are
introduced to Satan's two evil helpers. These are
the two beasts of Chapter 13
- one arising out of the sea (i.e. the
sea of humanity[2])
and the other arising out of the earth.
Philip Edgcumbe Hughes in his commentary on Revelation rightly calls
this the "unholy Trinity of
the anti-God, the trinity of evil "[3].
Last week we considered the beast arising out of the sea of
humanity . This is the anti-christ. "Anti"
can mean both "in place of" (deceit) and "against" (persecution). This accurately describes the
work of Satan . He deceives, opposes and hinders the work of God in the
world . We shall now take a look at the third person of this
unholy trinity of evil: The false prophet !
OUTLINE:
1. A description of the second
beast
2. The work of the second beast
3. The implications upon humanity
a. the broad mass of humanity, that belongs to Satan
b. the people of God
1. A DESCRIPTION OF THE SECOND
BEAST (13:11)
The second "beast" is thoroughly
deceptive. He looks
less fearsome than the first. He has only two little horns instead of 10 horns
and 7 heads . He looks like a lamb (note once again the deceit of Satan), but he
speaks like a dragon!
How is this
beast different from the first?
The first beast appears to have a political role. Satan (who is a spirit) must work through
persons and human institutions that can implement his
evil schemes. We are told that "the
dragon gave the (first) beast his
power and his throne (a place
of power/dominion) and great authority." (v.2b) This power, throne and authority
extends to the whole world (v.7)
and it seems that for a while this beast
actually conquers the saints (church) à see chapter 11: 1-10 for the same picture). "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast" -
all apart from those whose names are
written in the book of life. (v. 8) It appears
as if the whole world is in the
hands of the Anti-Christ , but this is not so in reality. As in the days
of Elijah, God has his elect remnant consisting of those
that have not bowed the knee to Baal (1
Kings 19:18)
The second
beast appears to manage the affairs of the first beast.
i.
he exercises all the authority
of the first beast on his behalf and is instrumental in making the inhabitants of the earth worship the first
beast (v. 12)
ii.
he was given power to perform miraculous signs on behalf of the first beast (v. 14)
iii.
he orders that an image is set up in
honour of the first beast (v. 14)
iv.
he forces everyone to be marked
with the number of the beast (vv
15-18)
The second beast at face
value appears to be not as impressive as the first, but
it has a dragon voice and he has an ability to do great signs and wonders (vv. 13,14). He appears to have little resistance in implementing
the worship of the anti-christ. He
effectively seduces the hearts of people
from every tribe , people , language and nation, so that mankind at large
worship, admire and submit to the first beast.
Who is this
second beast ?
We do not have to struggle to discover his identity . Scripture itself helps us. Three texts
identify this beast as the false prophet - Rev.
16:13; Rev. 19:20 ; Rev. 20:10. You
see it very clearly in these verses - here the false prophet is a part of the unholy or evil trinity : the dragon , the anti-Christ and the false
prophet. Thank God that we know already now what their future shall be .
The devil, and the anti-christ (first
beast) beast and the false-prophet (second beast) will be thrown into the lake of burning sulphur. (Rev. 20:10)
And so we have here the
false prophet! What is a prophet?
Try to forget the idea for a moment that a prophet is only someone who foretells the future. Another angle, according to the Bible, is that a prophet speaks for someone else e.g.
(i)
Aaron is called the prophet of Moses (Ex 7:1). When they go
to Pharaoh, Aaron expresses the message
to Pharaoh on behalf of and instead of
Moses.
(ii)
The prophets of God in Israel are people who speak on behalf of God, thus revealing the will of God to man.
Now this second beast is also a prophet. He speaks for someone
else. He speaks for the anti-christ. He
is a false prophet. He speaks the lie. He deceives the nations into believing the lie. His words are
accompanied by great signs and wonders. He even calls down fire from heaven. In
a word , this prophet is the exact opposite of what a man such as
the prophet Elijah was in Israel (1 Kings 17,18):
· Elijah stood
before God Almighty ; The false prophet stands before Anti-Christ
· Elijah spoke
the truth of God; the false prophet speaks the lies of Satan and the anti -christ.
· Elijah urged
men to destroy the images of Baal and to serve the true and living God; the
false prophet persuades men to forsake God almighty and to make an idol statue for the Dragon and for the first
beast.
· Elijah persuaded
men to kill the priests of Baal ; This false prophet kills those who
refuse to bow down and worship the image of the anti- Christ. (Ch. 11: 1-10 ; 13: 7)
· Elijah
called fire from the true God of heaven. The false prophet calls imitation fire
from Satan. Like the magicians of Egypt
who imitated some of Moses miracles ,
he imitates some of Christ’s
miracles and makes people believe
that this power is of God
2. THE WORK OF THE SECOND BEAST
The supreme work of the
false prophet is to glorify the first
beast. His work is to get humanity to
worship the beast. He does that through his prophetic work.
Naturally , we would expect a prophet to do signs and wonders. It would establish his prophetic authority,
the truth he claims to speak. This second beast does exactly that. This should not surprise us :
(i)
The Lord Jesus foretold
this . "For false christs and false prophets will
appear and perform great signs and wonders, so as to
lead astray , if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time." (Matt. 24:24,25)
(ii)
The apostle Paul
predicted that the man of lawlessness/sin should manifest himself in great
signs and wonders (2 Thess. 2:9,10)
The false prophet causes mankind to make an image of the
anti-christ (the image of Satan)! There
is a profound depth of evil here . The intention is to supplant the image of God , who
alone is to be worshipped (Mt. 4:10). Remember, that man was created in the image of God, but
the satanic triad wants to change
that and raise up in its place the image of the
anti-Christ. It is the age old
attempt of the fallen creature to be like God (Gen
3:5). However , this is utterly contemptible to God, and this is the reason why God's wrath is
coming. God will not share His glory
with any created being. (cf. Rom 1:18ff).
Now to be sure, this
spirit of the anti-christ and that of the false prophet has been with
mankind ever since the fall. You read of this in the O.T. False prophets have
misled humanity since time immemorial. We read of it in the N.T. gospels, in
the Acts
and in the epistles. Every
epistle deals in some way or another with anti-christian influences in the
church. History is littered with the examples of those who were killed for the sake of the gospel -
all those who refused to bow down to anti-Christian institutions (see Rev.
6:9). All
this is very real , and it will continue to be so even more so as the Day of Christ approaches .
What about number of the
beast – the number of man - 666 (vv. 16 - 18)
This verse has drawn much comment and speculation. But it is not
as difficult as it is often made out to be. Take note of the following aspects:
1.
As far as "a mark" is concerned , the Lord's own people are sealed with a mark on their foreheads (7:3 , 9:4), indicating that they are
known to God and secure in Him.
2.
The “mark of the beast” is in keeping with Satan's strategy of deceit and imitation. This mark
seals Satan's subjects as his own. Many men and women (entering the broad road
which leads to destruction) accept this
mark, because it gives them a (false) sense of security and identity. They
obtain temporary privileges such
"buying and selling" i.e.
earning their keep . It exploits the anxious nature
of people refusing to trust in
God , doing so at the risk of their own soul, and like Esau, who for a bowl of lentil stew
sells his birthright - so they
sell their birthright to Satan!
3.
The marking does not need to be understood it a literal manner. This marking is a mark of the inner being – the heart ,and it is expressed in the thought life and in terms of the words which a person utters
in terms of his / her belief system , which is either for or against God
and His revealed Word.
4.
What is the
significance of the number 666? The most popular device for the unlocking of
this mystery has been the "gematria"[4]
in which each letter of the alphabet is
thought to have its own
numerical equivalent. The Jewish Rabbis loved this method. Depending on your ingenuity, the number 666
can be worked out to mean almost anything you wish. People have worked out that
“666” stands for the Roman empire, the popes, and
even the Protestant Reformers. One
writer, David Brady in a book entitled "The
contribution of British writers between 1560 and 1830 to the interpretation of
Rev 13:16-18 (The number of the beast) [5]gives
well over a hundred varying interpretations of the number 666 , some based on
Hebrew, some on Greek and others on Latin gematria. I am not about
to enter that fray! Let’s keep it
simple. It is clearly stated here that this is the number of the beast - the
number of man. The number 6 then falls short of seven, which is the divine
number - the number of perfection. 666 is therefore the humanistic (creaturely) trinity - the
counterfeit of the divine , pretending to be supreme in power and authority.
3. THE IMPLICATIONS UPON HUMANITY
In closing I want to briefly observe what the implications of all
this might be for you and I, as we must take to heart what is written here. It
is very clear that from the perspective of Scripture , there are two kinds of
people in the world :
a.
There are those , whose names are written in the Lamb’ s book of
Life - the lamb that was slain from the creation of the earth. I note that
these bear the mark of the lamb as we
have pointed out in 7:3 and 9:4 and here in 13:8 . Are you among them?
b.
It appears that the greater part of humanity will choose
to walk in the way of the
anti-Christ. May I therefore ask you
once again: where you stand? And if
you have seen that you do not stand with Christ , will you
not this day flee from the wrath that is to come ? Will you not today
receive the mark of the new birth - the sign and seal of your salvation in
Christ ? His blood can wash the guilt and sin of your dark past away! Come to Him now . He has promised not to send
you away , if you repent
from your sin , and if you trust
Him to free you from your
real guilt before a holy God who
will not forgive your sin , without
atonement !
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